Hinged container cap

ABSTRACT

A hinged cap with a cap body having a raised portion with an outlet opening in its upper boundary wall, a hinged lid connected via a hinge to said cap body, and a locking arrangement formed on cap body and on hinged lid. At least the raised portion is formed of an elastically deformable material, and the hinged lid positions tight against at least the lip of the outlet opening in a closed position, exerting pressure on the raised portion in the direction of closure. An element formed of an elastically deformable material is provided on the hinged connection which generates a biasing between the cap body and the hinged lid in order to bring the hinged lid into an opened position.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a hinged cap with a cap bodydesigned for fitting with a leakproof seal on a container opening, itsupper boundary wall having a raised portion with an outlet openingdisposed therein for the medium contained within the containerreceptacle, a hinged lid joined to the cap body for closing the outletopening, and a locking arrangement formed on the cap body and on thehinged lid.

BACKGROUND

[0002] A plurality of receptacle or container cap lids in all manner ofvarious designs is known, especially for glass or plastic bottlereceptacles which contain, for example, shower gels, hair shampoos,suncreams or sun lotions and body oils. Similar receptacles may alsohold liquid or pasty foods such as mayonnaise, mustard or ketchup, aswell as other kinds of fluid-based substances available on the market.The purpose of these cap lids is, on the one hand, to form as leakproofof a seal for the contents within the receptacle as possible, so thatthe substance contained within does not escape and so that outside airdoes not constantly pervade the receptacle. On the other hand, such acap lid should be easy to open and close.

[0003] Caps of this type usually have an essentially cylindricallyshaped cap body with a female thread provided on its inner wall forscrewing onto, for example, an accordingly configured (male) thread atthe upper end of a bottle neck. By means of a sealing arrangement, aleakproof connection is created between the cap and the receptacle. Theoutlet opening for the substance contained within the receptacle isarranged at the upper boundary wall of the cap body essentially in themiddle of the bottle opening and is usually restricted in relation tothe upper boundary wall by a raised lip. The lip of the outlet openingis thereby quite often designed as an pouring nipple or duct. In theknown caps, a tubular or bar-shaped peg is provided on the hinged lidwhich inserts into the outlet opening in the lid's closed position inorder to provide the sealed closure. The hinged lid is raised to theopened position by manual lifting of the lid, whereby the return hingingmovement of the hinged lid is determined by the hinged connectionbetween the cap body and the hinged lid.

[0004] Cap lids of this type, however, have the disadvantage that theclosure mechanism does not provide the same sealing functionality withall substances with which the receptacles can be filled, in particularwhen the same force is always to be applied for the opening of thehinged lid. In the known caps, the efficiency of the sealing between thelip of the outlet opening and the peg extension when inserted in theclosed position is namely realized through the appropriate clearancefitting, meaning the cap is then properly and tightly sealed when thepeg has a sufficiently tight fitted seat in the outlet opening and fitsto fills this surface in completely. Should, however, a receptacle befilled with a substance that has a lubricating effect, after the hingedlid has been opened and some substance poured out for the first time,the peg will no longer have a tightly fitted seat in the outlet opening.The hinged lid will henceforth open with a substantially less amount ofeffort required as should be necessary for a secure closure. The hingedlid can consequently be easily opened inadvertently, with subsequentloss of the substance from the receptacle. The known caps do not ensurea sufficiently good sealing effect.

[0005] Another possibility for closing the outlet opening is shown forexample in European patent application EP 0 629 560 A2. The outletopening in this cap is not closed by means of a peg being inserted intothe outlet opening, but rather the pouring nipple or duct formed by thelip of the outlet opening is covered by a cup-shaped profile mounted onthe hinged lid. In the hinged lid's closed position, the cup-shapedprofile is nudged over the pouring nipple or duct with such an ampleclearance fitting that it seats tightly there-upon and completely fillsin the pouring nipple or duct. But the same problems arise hereconcerning lubricative substances as have been thoroughly describedabove.

[0006] Additionally, the cap according to European patent application EP0 629 560A2should represent an improvement as regards the opening andclosing functions of the hinged lid relative to the cap body. For thispurpose, an elastic element comprised of rubber-like elastic material isdisposed on the hinge between the cap body and the hinged lid. Thiselement exerts a restoring effect on the hinged lid in order toautomatically bring it into its opened position when the lockingmechanism thereto provided is released. The hinge is thereby formed inthe contact surface area between the cap body and the hinged lid, and inparticular by a bent edge along a curved or ring-shaped section of lowermaterial strength. On the one hand, compressed elastic elements arehereby provided on the cap body as well as on the hinged lid adjacentthe variety of depressions formed on the hinge for the purpose ofreceiving the hinge in opened state. One end of such an elastic elementcan thereby be fitted either to the cap body or to the hinged lid. Uponclosing the cover, the free end moves into the allocated depression. Inthe closed position, consequently, the elastic element is then deformedin the compressed surface contact area of the hinge. On the other hand,alternatively, an elastic element in the form of a deformable buffer isprovided on the cap body which is then compressed by the hinged lid uponclosing.

[0007] While this known cap body can admittedly be molded together withthe hinged lid as one integral piece, the elastic element must bepositioned subsequently and can loosen, come off and become lost whenusing the cap. Furthermore, in order to induce the desired restoringeffect, the elastic element has to have a relatively complicatedconfiguration. In order to position the elastic elements, a series ofadditional depressions of precisely accurate shape are required on thecap body and on the hinged lid. This makes manufacture relativelycomplicated and expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention provides an improved hinged container cap.

[0009] It is an object of the present invention to provide, withrelatively low manufacturing expenditure, a hinged cap which canguarantee a sufficient leakproof sealed closure of the outlet openingregardless of the strength necessary to be applied for its opening orthe medium contained within the receptacle. In addition, caps inaccordance with the present invention should distinguish themselves byproviding ideal manipulation of a sturdy configuration.

[0010] Accordingly, a cap in accordance with the invention provides forat least a raised portion being made of an elastically deformablematerial. In the closed position, the hinged lid tightly fits to atleast the lip of the outlet opening and exerts pressure in the directionof closure on the raised portion. Consequently, the raised portion actsas a sealing means for providing a leakproof closure of the outletopening. In collaboration with the locking arrangement, this ensuresthat the hinged lid always exerts a consistent pressure on the outletopening, whereby any lubricating medium which may be in the receptaclewill not have any influence on sealing effectiveness. The lockingarrangement fixes the hinged lid in closed position. To open the hingedlid, the locking arrangement must only be released so that no furtherpressure will be exerted on the raised portion and the dispenser openingfor the contents will be cleared.

[0011] The raised portion can have a round or an oval base surface andtaper in somewhat of a funnel shape to the outlet opening. It is alsopossible that the raised portion is curved outwardly.

[0012] The hinged lid is also formed to curve outwardly and its innerwall tightly seals the outlet opening in the closed position. The hingedlid therefore requires no additional sealing arrangements in order toclose the outlet opening.

[0013] However, an especially good sealing effect and simultaneously acentering help for the lid can be created in that the hinged lid isprovided with a projection on its inner wall facing the outlet openingwhich at least partially lodges in the outlet opening in closedposition. Additionally or alternatively, the projection can tightly fitthe lip of the outlet opening, whereby the lip of the outlet opening,and if necessary the raised portion, are elastically deformed.

[0014] In an advantageous aspect of the invention, the hinged closure orthe cap is realized as a one-handed hinged cap.

[0015] The present invention further provides a hinged cap having anadditional operative element on the hinged connection consisting of anelastically deformable material which creates a biasing force betweenthe cap body and the hinged lid in order to bring the hinged lid into anopened position and which, upon manual closing of the hinged lid, iselastically deformed between cap body and hinged lid.

[0016] An especially advantageous further aspect provides for enablingmanipulation of the hinged cap with only one hand by providing anoperative elastically deformable element on the hinged connectionbetween the cap body and the hinged lid. Said element creates a biasingforce between the cap and the hinged lid in order to bring the hingedlid into an opened position. Upon manual closing of the hinged lid, theelastic element between the cap body and the hinged lid is elasticallydeformed. After the locking arrangement has been manually released, thehinged lid consequently automatically pops up into the opened positionas a result of the force predetermined by the elastic element.

[0017] In accordance with another basic aspect of the invention, thehinged connection between the cap body and the hinged lid is formed froma ring-shaped connecting joint or from a plurality of connectingbrackets. In this case, the elastic element is solidly molded on oneside of the ring-shaped connecting joint, or respectively between theconnecting brackets. The elastic element is therefore solidly fixed tothe joint so that it cannot involuntarily disengage. The construction ofthis hinging mechanism is relatively simple and not “fissured,”therebyexcluding to a large extent that the medium contained in the receptaclewill jam up in the depression or in the raised portion of the hingedconnection, which would thereby adversely impair the functionality.

[0018] The locking arrangement, also in accordance with an even furtherbasic idea of the invention, can be formed as a manually releasablesnap-lock cap, whereby the hinged lid is provided with a lockingprojection which, in closed position, clutches rearwards to a biased,manually operable locking element which is disposed on the cap body in asection formed from an elastically deformable material. The lockingarrangement is especially simple to use in that only a light pressuremust be manually applied to the elastic section formed on the cap body'sexterior wall in order to disengage the locking element from the lockingprojection. An especially good functionality is thereby guaranteed sincethe cap body itself is not distorted, but rather only the elasticportion. A tightly fitted seat of the cap is thereby always ensured.

[0019] In an especially advantageous aspect, a downwardly extendingtongue is provided at the hinged lid's lip section having an inward oroutward extending locking projection. In closed position, the lockingprojection clutches rearwards to a biased inwardly or outwardlyextending locking element in an elastically deformable section of thecap body in the manner of a snap-lock cap. The locking element isreleased from its engagement with the locking projection of the tongueupon manual pressure applied to the elastically deformable area.

[0020] In order to attain an especially flat outer cap surface, inparticular so that no functional components of the locking arrangementproject, the downwardly extending tongue can extend rearwards into arecess on or within the outer wall of the cap body when in closedposition. The elastically deformable area can thereby be formed withinthe recess and be provided with a control device for the releasing ofthe locking arrangement.

[0021] In accordance with another particularly accentuated aspect of theinvention, the raised portion of the upper boundary wall of the capbody, the elastically deformable element on the hinged connectionbetween the cap body and the hinged lid, and the elastically deformablesection of the locking arrangement can be made from a thermoplasticelastomer (TPE) or from silicone. These materials can be processedespecially well and provide the necessary elastic deforming qualitiesrequired for a tight seal and restoring effect.

[0022] In order to be particularly effective in the manufacturingprocedure and to realize an extremely compact structure, at least theraised portion of the upper boundary wall of the cap body and theelastically deformable element at the hinged connection between the capbody and the hinged lid may be manufactured as a coherent integralone-piece section made from a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or silicone.

[0023] An especially compact and easily manufactured construction isenabled in accordance with the present invention in that a TPE film isformed in each of the sections comprised of the thermoplastic elastomer(TPE).

[0024] In accordance with the present invention, the one-handed hingedclosure, the hinged cap respectively, guarantees a sufficient leakproofclosing of the outlet opening regardless of the force applied in orderto open it or the medium contained within the receptacle with relativelylow manufacture expenditure and good resultant manipulation.

[0025] In the following, two embodiments of a cap formed in accordancewith the present invention shall be explained in further detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0027]FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the cap shown in FIG. 1;

[0028]FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2;

[0029]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a capin accordance with the present invention;

[0030]FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the cap shown in FIG. 4; and

[0031]FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0032] The common characterizing features of both embodiments asrepresented will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

[0033] The two caps of the invention are designated by numerals 9 and 9′and both have a cap body 10 with an essentially cylindrical form andcircular cross sectional diameter. On the inner wall 11 of cap body 10,visible in FIGS. 3 and 6, a female thread is provided (not shown) whichserves to screw the cap body onto a bottle neck (not shown) having acorresponding male thread. A sealing means 13 at the upper inner wallestablishes a leakproof sealed connection between the bottle neck andthe cap body 10.

[0034] A round hinged lid 18 is attached in hinging manner to the capbody 10 by means of a hinged connection 28. Hinged lid 18 is depicted inopened position in FIGS. 1 to 6. The hinged lid 18 is curved outwardlyand, in its closed position (not shown), its lower, annular boundarysection 19 encloses upper boundary wall 12 of cap body 10. A protrudingprojection 34, circular in diameter with rounded off edges, is centrallyarranged on the curved inner side 32 of hinged lid 18.

[0035] The upper boundary wall 12 of cap body 10 is of circular shapeand locks in flush alignment with closed hinged lid 18. A circularoutlet opening 16 is disposed in the center of circular upper boundarywall 12. A raised portion 14 in said upper boundary wall 12 isconcentrically aligned with outlet opening 16. As can be noted fromFIGS. 3 and 6, raised portion 14 tapers in a funnel shape to centraloutlet opening 16.

[0036] When hinged lid 18 is in closed position, projection 34 on innerside 32 of hinged lid 18 positions to seal the lip of outlet opening 16.

[0037] The hinge connection between cap body 10 and hinged lid 18 is, asis especially clear with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5, formed by twobrackets 50 and 52 extending parallel to one another as well as to upperboundary wall 12 of cap body 10. Brackets 50 and 52, together withhinged lid 18 and cap body 10, form an integral unit, meaning hinged lid18 is formed together with cap body 10 and brackets 50 and 52 disposedtherebetween as a single one-piece element made out of polypropylene. Inso doing, brackets 50 and 52 are formed with such a low materialstrength that they will deform upon shutting of the lid closed. Anelastically deformable element 30 is arranged between both brackets 50and 52, represented here in cross-hatched pattern, which generates abiasing force between cap body 10 and hinged lid 18 in order to bringhinged lid 18 into an opened position. Upon manual closing of hinged lid18, said elastic element 30 between cap body 10 and hinged lid 18 iselastically deformed.

[0038] Elastic element 30 is manufactured from a thermoplastic elastomer(TPE). Said elastic element 30 is solidly connected not only with bothbrackets 50 and 52, but also with cap body 10 and hinged lid 18 in theregion close to hinged connection 28. In order to create such a fixedconnection, a so-called turnaround procedure is utilized duringmanufacture. In a first step, cap body 10 and hinged lid 18 are formedtogether with brackets 50 and 52 out of polypropylene. In the subsequentsecond step, the form produced is then rotated 180° and a TPE film isapplied to the hinge connection section. On the basis of the thermalrelationships inherent with this technique, a solid connection is formedbetween the polypropylene and the TPE film.

[0039] The characterizing features of the cap 9 of one preferredembodiment will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

[0040] The raised portion 14 on the upper boundary wall 12 of cap body10 is an elastically deformable section made from TPE. This raised TPEportion 14 can likewise be manufactured from a TPE film by means of theabove-mentioned turnaround procedure. So that raised TPE portion 14 andTPE element 30 are technically simple to manufacture, a TPE bracket 15is formed between raised TPE portion 14 and TPE element 30 on the upperboundary wall 12 of cap body 10. Consequently, raised TPE portion 14 andTPE element 30 are formed together with TPE bracket 15 as a coherent TPEsection.

[0041] In the closed position (not shown) of hinged lid 18, projection34 formed on inner side 32 of hinged lid 18 extends at least partiallyinto outlet opening 16 and positions to seal with the lip of outletopening 16. In so doing, the lip of outlet opening 16 and the raisedportion 14 become elastically deformed, resulting in an especially good,efficient sealed connection.

[0042] Lip section 19 of hinged lid 18 is provided with a tongue 20which extends downwardly in the closed position and has an inwardlyextending locking projection 22, FIG. 3. In the closed position, saidlocking projection 22 clutches rearwards in the manner of a snap-lockclosure to an outwardly extending locking element 24 which is formedwithin a rectangular recess 44, 45 on the outer wall 46 of cap body 10.To raise hinged lid 18, tongue 20, which is made out of polypropyleneand has a certain elastic deformability, is manually pulled in an upwarddirection whereby locking projection 22 is released and hinged lid 18opens.

[0043] The characterizing features of the cap 9′ of an alternateembodiment will now be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.

[0044] Lip section 19 of hinged lid 18 is provided with a tongue 20which extends downwardly and has an outwardly extending lockingprojection 38. In the closed position (not shown), said lockingprojection 38 clutches rearwardly in the manner of a snap-lock closureto a biased inwardly extending locking element 42 which is arranged in asomewhat rectangular recess 44 on the outer wall 46 of cap body 10 andinto which tongue 20 extends. An elastically deformable section 26 isformed within recess 44, which in turn is made from TPE. In the lowerpart of said TPE section, a control device 48 is arranged, while thelocking element 42 is disposed at its upper part. Upon manual pressurebeing applied to control device 48, locking projection 38 releasestongue 20 from locking element 42 and the TPE elements in hinged area 28yield an automatic opening of hinged lid 18.

[0045] Although preferred embodiments of the invention have beendescribed in detail herein, those skilled in the art will recognize thatvarious substitutions and modifications may be carried out withoutdeparting form the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hinged cap including: a cap body formed forproviding a leakproof seal with a receptacle opening, said cap bodyhaving an upper boundary wall, a raised portion with an outlet openingarranged therein for a medium contained within the receptacle; a hingedlid connected by a hinge to said cap body for closing of said outletopening; and locking means disposed on said cap body and on said hingedlid wherein at least said raised portion is made from an elasticallydeformable material, and said hinged lid positions tightly against atleast a lip of said outlet opening in the closed position of said hingedlid and exerts pressure on said raised portion in the direction ofclosure.
 2. The hinged cap according to claim 1 , wherein: anelastically deformable element is provided on the hinged connectionbetween said cap body and said hinged lid which generates a biasingforce between said cap body and said hinged lid in order to bring saidhinged lid into an opened position, and said elastically deformableelement is elastically deformed between said cap body and said hingedlid upon manual closing of said hinged lid.
 3. A hinged cap comprising:a cap body formed for providing a leakproof seal with a receptacleopening, said cap body having an upper boundary wall, and a raisedportion with an outlet opening arranged therein for the medium containedwithin the receptacle; a hinged lid connected by a hinge with said capbody for closing of said outlet opening; a locking arrangement disposedon said cap body and on said hinged lid; and an operative element ofelastically deformable material provided on said hinged connection whichgenerates a biasing force between said cap body and said hinged lid inorder to bring said hinged lid into an opened position, and which iselastically deformed between said cap body and said hinged lid uponmanual closing of said hinged lid, wherein the hinged connection betweenthe cap body and the hinged lid is formed by one of a ring-shapedconnecting joint and a plurality of connecting brackets, and saidelastic element is molded in solid connection with one side of saidring-shaped connecting joint, between said connecting brackets,respectively.
 4. A hinged cap according to claim 3 , wherein: saidlocking arrangement is formed as a manually releasable snap-lockclosure, whereby hinged lid has a locking projection which clutchesrearwards in closed position to a biased manually operable lockingelement which is arranged on said cap body in a section formed byelastically deformable material.
 5. A hinged cap comprising: a cap bodyformed for providing a leakproof seal with a receptacle opening, saidcap body having an upper boundary wall, a raised portion with an outletopening arranged therein for a medium contained within the receptacle; ahinged lid connected by a hinge with said cap body for closing saidoutlet opening, a locking arrangement disposed on said cap body and onsaid hinged lid; an operative element of elastically deformable materialprovided on a hinge connection which generates a biasing force betweensaid cap body and said hinged lid in order to bring said hinged lid intoan opened position, and which is elastically deformed between said capbody and said hinged lid upon manual closing of said hinged lid; andsaid hinged lid includes a locking projection which clutches rearwardsin a closed position in the manner of a snap-lock closure, whereby alocking element is arranged on said cap body in a section formed byelastically deformable material.
 6. A hinged cap according to claim 5 ,wherein: a lip section of said hinged lid is disposed with a downwardlyextending tongue having a locking projection which extends one of inwardand outwardly therefrom, which clutches rearwards in closed position toa biased one of inner and outwardly extending locking element in anelastically deformable section of said cap body in the manner of asnap-lock closure, whereby said locking element releases said tongue outof engagement with said locking projection upon manual pressure appliedto said elastically deformable section.
 7. A hinged cap according toclaim 6 , wherein: said tongue, in a hinged lid closed position, extendsinto a recess on or within an outer wall of said cap body.
 8. A hingedcap according to claim 7 , wherein: said elastically deformable sectionis formed within said recess.
 9. A hinged cap according to claim 8 ,wherein: a control device is arranged on said elastically deformablesection for the releasing of the locking arrangement.
 10. A hinged capaccording to claim 5 , wherein: at least said raised portion is madefrom an elastically deformable material, and said hinged lid positionstightly against at least said lip of said outlet opening in a closedposition and exerts pressure on said raised portion in the direction ofclosure.
 11. A hinged cap according to claim 10 , wherein: said raisedportion has one of a round or oval base surface and tapers in somewhatof a funnel shape to said outlet opening.
 12. A hinged cap according toclaim 11 , wherein: said raised portion is outwardly curved.
 13. Ahinged cap according to claim 12 , wherein: said hinged lid is formedwith an outward curve and its inner wall tightly seals said outletopening in a closed position.
 14. A hinged cap according to claim 13 ,wherein: said hinged lid has a projection on its inner wall facing saidoutlet opening which, in a closed position of said hinged lid, extendsat least partially into said outlet opening and positions tightlyagainst a lip of said outlet opening, whereby said lip of said outletopening and said raised portion are elastically deformed.
 15. A hingedcap according to claim 14 , wherein: at least said raised portion andsaid elastically deformable element on said hinged connection betweensaid cap body and said hinged lid and said elastic deformable section ofsaid locking arrangement are formed of one of a thermoplastic elastomer(TPE) or silicone.
 16. A hinged cap according to claim 15 , wherein: atleast said raised portion and said elastically deformable element onsaid hinged connection between said cap body and said hinged lid form acoherent one-piece section made from one of thermoplastic elastomer(TPE) or silicone.
 17. A hinged cap according to claim 16 , wherein:said sections made of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) are each formed froma TPE film.